
The Four: A Survey of the Gospels

Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom

From Behind the Veil: The Epistles of John

Deep Exegesis:The Mystery of Reading Scripture

1 & 2 Kings
Brazos Theological Commentary

The Promise Of His Appearing: An Exposition Of Second Peter

A Great Mystery: Fourteen Wedding Sermons

Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, And Hope In Western Literature

Miniatures & Morals: The Christian Novels of Jane Austen

The Priesthood of the Plebs: A Theology of Baptism

A Son To Me: An Exposition of 1 & 2 Samuel

From Silence to Song: The Davidic Liturgical Revolution

Ascent to Love: A Guide to Dante's Divine Comedy

Blessed Are the Hungry: Meditations on the Lord's Supper

A House For My Name: A Survey of the Old Testament

Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

Brightest Heaven of Invention: A Christian Guide To Six Shakespeare Plays

Wise Words: Family Stories That Bring the Proverbs to Life

The Kingdom and the Power: Rediscovering the Centrality of the Church
Given its prominence in the NT, it’s striking that the LXX rarely speaks of “breaking bread.” One of the few times the phrase occurs is in Jeremiah 16:7, where, strikingly, it is joined to a statement about a “cup of consolation.” Broken bread and cup is Eucharistic.
Jeremiah is warning about the calamity about to fall on Jerusalem: Marriages will end, people will die and be exposed without burla, there will be no voice of bride or groom. Likewise, there will be a cessation of funeral meals: No more “breaking bread in mourning” and no more “cupt of consolation to drink for anyone’s father or mother.”
Jesus’ broken bread and cup of consolation are a funeral meal – more precisely, a pre-funeral meal mourning His approaching death. And like Jeremiah Jesus speaks of an interruption of the meal – no more “fruit of the vine until I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom” (Matthew 26:29). Jesus is prophesying a kind of exile, time of distress, Messianic woes, but a distress that will later be reversed in a resurrection/return from exile.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 9:54 am
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